COLUMBUS -- Urban Meyer openly admits it -- he is a scoreboard watcher and a rankings follower.

The first-year coach at Ohio State doesn't mind if his team is, too.

Anyone who thinks Meyer is telling his players to ignore such rankings has another thing coming to them.

"Not this coach," Meyer said on Monday during his weekly news conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

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One of only four 6-0 teams in America and one of 16 remaining undefeated teams in the FBS, thanks to a 63-38 throttling of nationally-ranked Nebraska on Saturday night, Ohio State ascended to No. 8 in the AP poll this week.

Because of NCAA sanctions, Ohio State is not eligible for a berth in the league championship game, a bowl bid or a Bowl Championship Series ranking. But it is eligible for a national championship in the Associated Press poll because according to an AP official, "the AP ranks the top 25 teams regardless of their status with the NCAA."

The postseason is a no-go for the Buckeyes, but winning the Leaders Division title and winning an AP poll national title are there for the Buckeyes' taking -- and they know it.

"Oh, yeah. We're not shy," Meyer said. "We have state of the union every week with the players and they know. We're not hiding it. That's your Top 10 football team, and the stakes are real high."

Offensive lineman Corey Linsley said he enjoys playing for a coach who isn't afraid to use statistics and rankings as a motivator.

National perception matters to this OSU team.

"Like Coach Meyer says, 'If you don't think stats are important, you're kinda lying,'" Linsley said. "That's what we play for. We play for those polls. We play to be number one in the country."

Even senior defensive end John Simon agreed with the importance of polls on Monday, a deviation from his straight-line modus operandi.

"I think (the rankings) are important to the team to show where you are right now," Simon said. "You try to get as high as you can, so there's definitely something there.

"We're trying to get to number one if at all possible. We're doing everything we can. We just have to make sure we're taking it one week at a time."

After back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked opponents Michigan State and Nebraska, Ohio State faces four straight opponents who aren't ranked. The Buckeyes play Indiana (2-3, 0-2) Saturday at 8 p.m., followed by Purdue, Penn State and Illinois.

Ohio State has plenty of concerns as it heads into the next month worth of games.

While the Buckeyes offense churned out 371 yards rushing and put 63 points on the board against the Cornhuskers -- with help from an interception and punt return for touchdowns -- Meyer pointed out the Buckeyes completed only seven passes and had some shortcomings in other areas.

OSU's defense is among the concerns.

The Buckeyes gave up 38 points on 437 yards of offense against Nebraska.

Through six games, OSU hasn't held any team to less than 300 yards offense.

Indiana enters Saturday's game averaging 471.4 yards per game, second in the Big Ten.

"We expect to play better on defense," Meyer said.

Meyer also said, "Our punt coverage wasn't as good. We're not getting much hang time on our punts. Really disappointed right now and we've got to do a better job."

Perhaps the chief concern for Meyer is Ohio State's depth. Transfers and the NCAA-imposed scholarship reduction have whittled the Buckeyes to 76 scholarship players and injuries to players like Jordan Hall, C.J. Barnett, Jamie Wood and others have also left the team more short-handed than normal.

To help develop more depth, Meyer said younger players played in a 25-minute scrimmage.

"Are the back-ups ready? Do they want to be ready?" Meyer said. That is the challenge I have. There are some guys I'm very concerned about as back-ups. So that is the challenge right now."

Despite the concerns, Meyer is pleased with his team's progress. He raves of quarterback Braxton Miller, even if he isn't ready to endorse Miller's Heisman Trophy candidacy, is astounded by the improvement and dominance of his thin offensive line, and is more than happy with the 6-0 start and lofty standing in the eyes of the AP voters.

A poll that doesn't matter to many, but does to him and his players.

"These players are just playing football, and they have a right to know where they stand on a national level," Meyer said. "You come to Ohio State, and that's why we're all here. You should have those discussions in the middle of October."